Halloween spending slips as economy scares off revelers

Minions, zombies and Miley Cyrus are hot costumes this year, but they won't be enough to get Halloween revelers to spend as much as they did a year ago, retail experts say.

The National Retail Federation expects a 13.75 percent drop in total U.S. spending on Halloween — to $6.9 billion compared with 2012. Adults will spend an average of $75.03.

UCF student Corey Fleming, 18, will be prowling her closet for her "Great Gatsby" costume, sparing only a few bucks for accessories, such as a red feather boa.

"I'm just more aware of the value of money," said Fleming, who was shopping Monday at a Spirit Halloween store in east Orlando.

Some consumers were spooked by the government shutdown and concerns over the economy, which is recovering way too slowly for many — a reluctance expected to spill over into the Christmas season. The federation predicts the average holiday shopper will spend $738 — a 2 percent drop from last year.

"I think really a lot of it has to do with consumer sentiment in general right now," said Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman for the retail federation. "There are more reasons than not for Americans to believe that our economy has sputtered and that economic growth is just teetering right now."

At the same time, parents have begun to realize they don't have to spend a lot for Halloween costumes, said Jessica Bowen, an Orlando stay-at-home mom of four children, ages 9 to 13. She has seen an increasing array of choices at stores such as Target.

Bowen picked up a Dragon Ninja costume for one son at Spirit Halloween, but costumes for her other children will include a banana and Dopey the dwarf, and they will either be homemade or come from Target, Bowen said. Her teenager might not dress up at all.

"They're getting older, and the older they get the less they want to do with it," she said.

Spirit Halloween declined to comment on sales.

Despite the gloomy retail outlook, pop culture is fueling an interest in many costumes this year.

Popular ones include yellow minion characters from the "Despicable Me" movie and foxes, thanks to "What Does the Fox Say," a goofy YouTube music video that's a big hit with kids.

A "Twerkin Teddy" costume based on the one Miley Cyrus wore during her infamous MTV Video Awards performance has sold out on Spirit Halloween's website.

Spirit Halloween also has an exclusive partnership with "The Walking Dead" and sells costumes and props based on characters from the hit AMC show about zombies.

Still, the retail federation's survey showed that the most popular costumes are traditional ones. Witches came in No. 1 for adults. The group predicts 5 million people will don witch's hats and capes this year.

"In this kind of economy, it's really cheap to be a witch or a cat or a dog," Grannis said."You could dress as a lot of things just from what's around your house, and it doesn't break the bank."

Despite the big drop in spending, Grannis said Halloween will bounce back as the economy improves.

"Based on the trajectory we've seen, I think there's still some room for Halloween to get bigger," Grannis said. "Right now, we're seeing this boom in 18-34 year olds who want to participate in Halloween. As some of them get older and have their own kids, I think they'll carry that throughout their life."